Tritium lighting is made using glass tubes with a phosphor layer in them and tritium (a hydrogen isotope) gas inside the tube. Such a tube is known as a "gaseous tritium light source" (GTLS). Because tritium in particular is an integral part of thermonuclear devices (though in quantities several thousand times larger than that in a keychain), devices containing tritium are considered dual-use technology in the U.S.A., and are therefore illegal for export. However, they are widely available in the U.K., most of Europe (some countries like Belgium have outlawed them however), Asia and Australia. Tritium devices can be purchased in the UK and Australia, but are illegal for import to the United States, however they are available in the US as gunsights and for military applications. UK Source

http://www.crazyaboutgadgets.com/detail.asp?ID=371 AU Source

http://www.kitbag.com.au/prod849.htm USA Source (Military Personnel only)

http://www.ameriglo.net/tactical_dev.htm You can also find tritium lighting in the US without having to be military personnel at http://www.unitednuclear.com. They have a limited stock, though.

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How old are they? If they are about 25 years old or more they will probably be very dim and should be replaced. The halflife of Tritium is only 12.26 years, so after 25 years their brightness would be about 1/4 of what it was new.

If they are less than 6 years old and not working right they are defective or broken, the tritium has probably escaped.

Either way there is nothing to clean that would help.

Getting a replacement Tritium ampule that fits may be difficult and/or expensive as the US has no dedicated Tritium production reactors since the shutdown of the Savanna River site in the 1990s.

heat/thermal

Helium and a neutron:

D + T --> He + n + 17.59 MeV

its just a fictional element in command and conquesr no such thing/element exists in real life dear..

hydrogen

Hydron, tritium, deuterium

Three

T

respirator

Tritium decontamination techniques for machine components and their application at tritium handling facilities are reviewed. These include commonly used methods such as vacuuming, purging, thermal desorption and isotopic exchange as well as less common methods such as chemical/electrochemical etching, plasma discharge cleaning, and destructive methods. Problems associated with tritium contamination of walls and use of protective coatings are reviewed. Tritium decontamination considerations at fusion facilities are discussed.

It should create Helium as a by-product, and also have a neutron.

There are several ways to store tritium.

It can be stored as a gas for short term storage (as in nuclear weapons -- the gas in the tritium reservoir needs to be replenished periodically; or tritium illumination for watches or survival gear -- these wear out and go dim over time.).

For longer term and final storage, a hydride storage vessel using a uranium metal bed, or better yet, a titanium sponge can be used. Most of the gas can be recovered from these systems by desorption under vacuum. To remove the rest, isotopic exchange is required.

Tritium decays by beta decay (emits high energy electron converting one neutron to a proton) resulting in Helium-3.